Are you a person of faith?

In much of western religion and culture, faith has become synonymous with belief. When questions can’t be simply answered, the answer simply becomes, “you just gotta have faith.” William James said, “Faith is when you believe something you know ain’t true.” But blind faith has little to do with belief. Being a person of faith is everyone’s business, not that of a self-proclaimed moralistic few who venture to tell the rest of us what we ought to believe and how we ought to behave as they pretend to regulate our lives. I contend that faith and belief are interdependent and necessary in our lives. Each of us is a person of faith whether we believe it or not.

Belief implies truth. Faith implies trust.

Trust is necessary for faith. Trusting can actually affect the truth of believing. But it does so through action, not through blind faith. As the book of James in the Christian scriptures says, faith without works is dead.

One of the primary influences in my becoming a minister was my study of beliefs during my doctoral research in educational psychology at the University of Illinois. My dissertation was titled Assessing University Students’ Epistemological Beliefs About Foreign Language Learning–a stereotypically complicated and confusing title to an even more complicated research project.

Epistemological beliefs are core beliefs about the nature of knowledge, knowing, and learning. To believe something is to ascribe to it some measure of truth, whether or not there is any empirical truth–any basis of fact–in that belief. Every belief must have an object. In my research, the more tangible the object (grammar, vocabulary, specific learning techniques), the more likely students were to ascribe truth to the belief. The less tangible the object (ability, difficulty, learning style), the less like they were to ascribe truth.

This makes sense if you look at how knowledge and beliefs change as people mature. In the broader research on the nature of knowledge and learning, acquiring new knowledge happens along continuums that are generally measured from novice to expert, naïve to informed, and inexperienced to experienced. Beliefs mature with education and experience. Knowledge matures from being dualistic or absolute in terms of right and wrong to being more relativistic and multidimensional.

The basic categories for measuring epistemological beliefs are whether knowledge is simple or complex, certain or malleable, imparted by some omniscient source of authority or at least partially created by the learner, quickly learned or acquired over time, and whether ability is innate or if learning is possible through instruction and experience.

You can begin to see how this applies to religious beliefs. Religion seems to have been left behind, or has left itself behind, when it comes to the maturation of knowledge. Religious belief, unlike other domains of knowledge, is often considered to be simple, certain, imparted, quickly achieved, and innate.

This is why, even though I affirm the wisdom inherent in all religions, I can’t accept the extreme fundamentalist elements of any religion. Because such absolutism runs counter to how we believe and know as human beings, which changes as we mature. I see no reason to keep religion in the realm of the childlike, the novice, and naïve. Doing so accomplishes nothing but control of the masses, and stifles spiritual maturation.

Many (but not all) believers of religion in the western world adhere to institutional belief systems that maintain dualistic, absolute doctrines of omniscient authority. Simple, certain, imparted, and quick.

Why should religion be any different from other aspects of our lives as we grow and learn that the world is not dualistic, but multidimensional –that knowledge is not absolute, but changeable and co-created by the learner? As we develop the ability for critical thought in late adolescence and young adulthood–as we realize that we can create knowledge and use our own conscience, intuition, and experience as sources of authority that determine our beliefs–we should do so in all aspects of our lives, including our religious beliefs. We should do so especially with our religious beliefs. In religion, we confront and embrace issues of ultimate importance. This is where we develop and practice our values. This is where we make meaning.

Beliefs are important because they ultimately affect our actions. In basic belief theories, beliefs are partial determinants of attitudes, attitudes are partial determinants of motivations or intentions, and intentions are partial determinants of behavior. Of course, there is interaction and feedback between each of these steps, but if our beliefs remain immature, so will our behaviors. Our behaviors are where we encounter faith. Faith is trust in a greater dynamic that will help rather than hinder us, and will liberate rather than oppress us. Faith is how we behave.

More mature faith traditions recognize that the world and knowledge of it is complex, that understanding of the world is malleable and changing, and that we learn through creating knowledge and understanding rather than always accepting some omniscient source of authority. They recognize that mature knowledge and faith take time and experience, that life is a journey and not a quick conversion, that every person has worth and dignity, and that every person can realize the divinity within themselves.

This brings us back to faith and the differences between faith and belief. Understanding why we believe something comes both from discerning the source of our beliefs and understanding the experiences, attitudes, and motivations that lead us to believe what we do and to trust (have faith in) the world.

It seems easier and easier to become a cynic and skeptic these days. It is easier and easier to become distrustful and to lose faith in a world that gives us little supporting evidence that our lives will be fruitful and meaningful, or that anyone else will join us as we stand up for ourselves. Money and power have become paramount values in a society where most of us at best have only modest amounts of either, and in which too many of us have none. It becomes more and more difficult to trust that if one rises up against injustice and oppression, that others will join in. It becomes easy to allow ourselves to be robbed of all that we hold dear.

Faith implies trust. Belief implies truth. An interesting linguistic example of how faith and belief have erroneously become synonymous is that Bona fide has come to mean certified or authentic, real, tangible, or true, but its Latin meaning is literally good faith.

Wilfred Cantwell Smith, in his 1979 book, Faith and Belief: The Difference Between Them (9), views faith as different from both belief and religion. Faith does not require an object, as does belief. Rather, one has faith in the realities around which concepts are formulated. Faith is also different from a system of religious tradition. Smith calls faith:

… a quality of the person and not the system. It is an orientation of the personality to oneself, to one’s neighbor, to the universe; a total response; a way of seeing whatever one sees and of handling whatever one handles; a capacity to live at more than a mundane level; to see, to feel, to act in terms of, a transcendent dimension.

This is both faith as trust and trust as having a foundation in action and discernment. I mentioned earlier that we are all people of faith. We have great faith every time we get into a car. Faith that other drivers will sufficiently follow the traffic laws such that we will all reach our destinations. Faith as trust, like belief, is based on good evidence, but requires the understanding that our faith may not be rewarded. Most of the time, we reach our destination without incident. Sometimes, we are involved in an accident. Occasionally, tragedy may result. It is not necessarily true that we will always be successful, but lest we stifle ourselves into inaction, we need some leap of faith–some trust that our chances are good. But neither is trust completely a roll of the dice. Faith with action is the key. Informed faith, just as we rely on informed belief.

When I was doing my hospital chaplaincy internship a few years ago, I was called to visit a woman who had just been diagnosed with already advanced and terminal cancer. Her first question to me in her grief and confusion was, “What is God’s will for me?” Of course, I couldn’t answer her question, but neither did I tell her that I didn’t have an answer. I simply comforted her by listening, by praying with her on her terms, and by asking how she was feeling. Of course, she was scared. I offered her the opportunity to talk about her fear, her will to live, and her understanding that she probably wouldn’t live for very long. She talked about her family and what on earth her husband would do without her. I visited with her for about an hour, and then checked back in with her later that night. She was at complete peace and told me what God’s will was for her. She said that she had decided to go forward with whatever treatment was available, trusting that it might help, but also recognizing that it might not, and accepting that possibility. She went forward with treatment, but also filled out life-decision forms and medical directives. Her faith was not blind. She was faced head on with her own mortality. She made her decisions through careful discernment, reflection, and consultation with her doctors, her family, and the listening ear of a terrified, but calm, chaplain. She needed both faith–trust that her decisions would be the right ones–and belief–a belief that she was part of this decision and couldn’t turn it over to anyone, not even to God.

15 Responses

Matt, you wrote, “Beliefs are important because they ultimately affect our actions. In basic belief theories, beliefs are partial determinants of attitudes, attitudes are partial determinants of motivations or intentions, and intentions are partial determinants of behavior.” I’m interested in exploring the relationships between belief and action. Can you tell me where I can find research about the link between the two?

1 : a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing

2 : something believed; especially : a tenet or body of tenets held by a group

3 : conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon especially when based on examination of evidence

Faith:

1 a : allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty

b (1) : fidelity to one’s promises

(2) : sincerity of intentions

2 a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God

(2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion

b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof

(2) : complete trust

3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs

I believe that the sun will rise (and set) again tomorrow because it has done so reliably for as long as I can remember but I don’t think I can say I have faith in that. I believe that most people are inherently good, but I don’t really have a lot of faith in that conviction. Maybe I just find the word “faith” too sqishy.

I also believe that being skeptical (about religion) is not the same as being cynical about it, although this requires effort on my part.

Where does trust come into play? I don’t trust people much and flag-waving religious people less.

A while back I had an extended email “conversation” with my son-in-law, a classics professor::

Moi: “I’ve been reading Karen Armstrong’s new book, The Case for God, and find her comments on the chain of translation of ‘believe’ in English very interesting and her claim that ‘believe’ doesn’t now mean what it did when the KJ Bible was written. I’ll type out most of the paragraph”:

Armstrong: “When the New Testament was translated from Greek into Latin by Saint Jerome . . . pistis became fides (“loyalty”). Fides had no verbal form, so for pisteuo Jerome used the Latin verb credo, a word that derived from cor do, “I give my heart.” He did of think of using opinor (“I hold an opinion”). When the Bible was translated into English, credo and pisteuo became “I believe” in the King James version (1611) But the word “belief” has since changed its meaning. In Middle English, bileven meant “to prize; to value; to hold dear.” It was related to the German belieben (“to love”), liebe (“beloved”), and the Latin libido. So “belief” originally meant “loyalty to a person to whom one is bond in promise or duty. . . . In religious contexts the Latin credere and the English “belief” both retained their original connotations well into the nineteenth century. (p. 87-88)”

Moi: “The book so far is an extended argument against literalism, Biblical and otherwise. Since all language is ultimately metaphor, given that “The map is not the territory” (Korzybski), this makes perfect sense.

Emil: “Well, I don’t think giving one’s heart and trusting are that far apart–and they’re both a long way from affirming propositions as true–or even having opinions for that matter. Although people do sometimes invest in their opinions in ways that could be described as giving their hearts to them or trusting them–especially when they suppose their opinions to be facts.”

Moi: “Well, I don’t think giving one’s heart and trusting are that far apart–and they’re both a long way from affirming propositions as true–or even having opinions for that matter. Although people do sometimes invest in their opinions in ways that could be described as giving their hearts to them or trusting them–especially when they suppose their opinions to be facts. ”

Emil: “Agreed. Something I didn’t mention is that fides (“faith”/”loyalty”) for the Romans had an almost contractual sense — think Mafia code of silence and you’ll get the idea. I don’t think we have any similarly loaded word in English.”

Moi: “Although ‘fealty’ –as in the “oath of fealty” made by vassals to feudal lords in the Middle Ages–seems close. I’m not aware of ‘fealty’ having any use in modern English.”

Emil: “Good point regarding “fealty” — and of course it’s from the same root as fides, from a noun (fidelitas) formed off the adjective fidelis (of “semper fi” fame). “Fealty” is a product of the ever amazing French linguistic blender. “fidelity” came into English by a more recent and direct route. Interesting to note that all these words still carry weighty implications (and infidel -ity) as well — obviously still with a contractual sense.”

Well written. Mature faith will often require us to choose to trust. Jesus said that we must come to him as a child. I think this means that we cannot possibly understand enough about God to reach Him with our mental processes. Anyone that tries to do so is fooling themselves. However, we do have a self-concious mind that must necessarily struggle with the intellectual aspect of our spiritual journey. So the key moment of faith is when we surrender this struggle and say “OK, I can’t comprehend everything, but I know that I need something more God, please help me.” He will eventually give us spiritual peace. This intellectual struggle never ends as we are continually tested by life. But His peace never ends, never fails and surpasses all understanding.

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

Where there is evidence, no one speaks of ‘faith’. We do not speak of faith that two and two are four or that the earth is round. We only speak of faith when we wish to substitute emotion for evidence.

A church group hung a flyer on my door the other day saying that my house and neighborhood was surrounded by prayer. I might experience more peace and encouragement in the next few weeks.

I had to laugh. I have nine year old twins and a 12 year old! I believe in God, I am a Christian, but honestly, I don’t really have faith I’m going to get that peace over the next few weeks! (Uh, I did put the flyer on the refrigerator door, though! I mean, anything is possible!)

I told the girls that we had people praying for us, read them the flyer, and said, “Now, come on! Let’s work on this right now! I want my peace!”

They laughed at me. What can I say? They like fighting!

I’ll tell you what I do have faith about, though. I have faith they are going to grow up to be mature, responsible young women, and I have faith they are going to develop a friendship when they are older that they’ll cherish! I know siblings don’t always do that, but I think these girls will! I can kind of see past the fussing and fighting, and I can see it blooming already!

Where does trust come into play? I don’t trust people much and flag-waving religious people less.

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First, a dictionary is a poor source for understanding. That type of reference is only good for finding common usage of the language, not actual “meaning”.

Trust comes in everywhere. You trusted the dictionary writers to have done adequate research to find the best meaning to make your point. You claim not to trust people much, But the reality is that you trust a lot of people quite a bit. If you don’t trust flag-waving religious people, chances are, you place some credibility in folks that share that distrust, because they seem to make sense more often, and hence you may not scrutinize their positions as closely.

Ultimately, you can’t possibly scrutinize every piece of “knowledge” you accumulate, but you need such a belief structure to function as a thinking being, so most of what you believe is good enough to get by, and as long as it is not a problem, you don’t have a reason to question it, and hence, “trust” that it is right. We tend to grow comfortable with “knowledge” that we have not had to question for a long time, thinking that time has tested it for us, and grow in resistance to questioning it the longer we have had it. So, there are probably a lot of things that your parents told you when you were a kid that you will fight to defend, because your trust in their belief is an extension of the trust you had in them when they taught you.

Trust, after all, is seldom absolute, but is a matter of degree. I trust the personnel of a store enough to use my credit card there, but not enough to leave my credit card there.